Tractor



TRACTOR.

APPLICATION.mEusEP'. 11, x

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED sT-ATEs PATE ELoYniz FRANKLIN/or sANANToNIo,Ti'iX-asT i To all whomz'iv'may concern.

' Be itknown thatI, FLOYD P. FRAYKLTN,`

I". a citizen of the United States, residing iat San Antonio, 'in thecounty'of VBexar andv tate of Texas, have invented new and usefulimprovements in Tractors, of which the following .is a.l specification.

This invention relates to new 'and useful improvements in tractors,`.andthe principal object of the 4invention is to provide means' for adjustintance from the traction elements onfone side to those on the other.

v jPiinother object of the invention is .tov-pro;

vide means .whereby the tractor may be' steeredr .byy thefeet of theoperator so' as to leave thev hands freeto handle the operating leversfor the implements. Another object of the inventionvv is to providemeans for lowering and 'raising the different sets of implementsindependently of each other orall together.

The invention also consists in certa'n other features of constructionand in the parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illus- .-tiatedinthe accompanying drawings and specifically claims.-

ln describing my invention'in detail, reference will 'be had to theaccompanying drawings kwherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views', and in which-- Figure1 is a'plan viewpof -the invention, Fig. 2 is aside view, Ffg. 3 isarear view with part-s in section Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4:*4 ofFig. 1,

Fig. 5 is -a` sectional detail showing how the inner ends of the slidingbars are arranged in the cross bar,

, Fig. 6 is a section on line-GsoflFig 5,

Fig. 7 is a view"partly in section ofthe lifting means for theimplements, y

Fig.` 8'. is a 'section on'the line. 8 8 of Fig'. l. I

. 'Inthese views 1 indicates the main frame' of the tractor which ismade up of the side bars 2, the end bar 3, and the cross-bars 4,. Theselatter bars are made lfrom channel iron and they support the centralenginev supporting barsv 5. 6 indicates the engine which may be ofanysuitable form. The'4 engine is suitably connected. with' theVdifferential gearing 7 to which the two part pointed out in theappended.

are again tightened drive shaft v8 .is connected. The tractor supported'by lthe well-known caterpillari Adrivingineans, indicatedgeneraily-"bytlie numeral 9. These ineans are carriedcby a supporting``frame including 'the '-uprights 10.. These uprights have their upperends secured to channel bars 11, 'and' said chaniiel bars extendtransversely and ,engage with the channel bars l1 and 11 are-formedpairs with each pair in 'one of the-channel v'bars-4f. 1n this way thelower channelfbars.

oEEicE.

Specification of Letters Patent. v Patntd' Feb.ljlg;` Application filedSeptember 1.1, 1918. Serial No. 253,560.

may be moved outwardly to separate the .f

frames carrying the. caterpillar v*drivingl means. The upper and lowerchannel :bai'sl are hel-d together bythe' clamps 12 sothat: said barsmay be clamped-together'and thus held against movement. locaterollerslS" 4at suitable points between said bars. .'I`he` drawings show'said rollers located at` the; These rollers are outer' ends of thebars'. mounted in a frame 14- which yis swiveled .on the end of a bolt15 carried.' by the main' frame. ln this way when the clamps-areloosened the bolts 15 may be turned to ,Kforce the lrollers against thelower channeljbars to force said -bars apart andjthu's facilitate A thesliding movement of the lower bars on the upper bars. After thecaterpillar means are adjusted to the proper vwidth the clamps Ato'holdthe parts in adjusted position. A

The drive shaft is connected-'with the`- drive shaft of the caterpillarmeans by means of the .chains 16. .f It will be under-r stood that thecaterpillar meansv on each side of the tractor are drivenfrom oney partof-.the two-part'l drive shaft and as this, shaft is connectedwith'theengine by the., differential'gea-ring said'caterpillar meansl are indeendent of each other. @I steer the tractor placed adjacent the seat 18,said pedals being connected with the two parts of the shaft by suitable.braking means shown generally .at 19. In this way by applying the brakesto one part, of the shaft,the driving `wheelson one' side will havetheir speed checked whilethe wheels on the other side will continue atthe same speed, so that .the tractor will be causedto turn toward theymeans of the foot 'pedals 17` side where the speed of the wheels ischecked. 2O indicates'the clutch pedal connectedl with the usual clutchdevices. As

will be seen the drive shaft is provided with 5 .sleeves 8f, slidablymounted thereon so that the driving chains may` move with the framescarrying the .caterpillar means when said frames are adjusted.`

z The tractor is shown as pulling three gangs of cultivator p'l'ows,`Eachside gang, indicated .bythe reference numeral Q1, is con- 'nectedwith the `'caterpillar frame by a link while the central gang 23 isconnected by a similar link to a depending frame 2i suitablyconnectedwith the main frame.

The means tor` raising and lowering the gangs consists of a bar 25rotatably support- 4ed'iln the en d of the main frame and lia-vingsleeves -"slifdably connected with its ends. :The sleev'es.' arefheld inadjusted position on f bar by any suitable means. Each sleeve is nnectedwith one of the side gangs by "'fmeans olf thel'rnks 2T. and thecentral' gang is connected by links 2S with the lever Q9 rotatablymounted. on the shaft 125. Each sleeve is adapted to be rotated by meansof` a hand lever connected therewith and the levers 729 and 30 areprovided with the usual pawls which engage the teeth on the seg` 30ments 31l rigidly secured to the shaft 25. In

` thiswayeach gang may be actuated indeofthe other gang. I also provide1 j Vctuating all the gangs at once andjsuch"murs-vconsist of a masterlever 32 secured totthejshaft .so that when said master lever-isoperated the shaft will be turned, Whichaction will rock the segments31 and through means of the levers 29 and 30 will move the three gangsat once. The connecting linksfor the gangs may be supplied with theusual shock absorbing springs 33.

34: indicates the lever for controlling the gear shift.

It will thus be seen that the tread of the tractor may be adjusted todifferent widths to suit rows of plants placed different distane-esapart. and as the -various'shai'ts'are provided with sleeves these partswill be, adjusted also. It will also be seen that any desired gang ofcultivator teeth may be swung. upwardly out of operative. position andlowered without disturbing the other gangs and that all the gangsmavbemoved at the same time.`

vent is:

1. A tractor comprising a main frame in# It is thought from'theforegoing description that the advantages and novel features of myinvention will be readily apparent.

I desire it to be understood that I may fall Within the scope oftheappended claims.

lHaving described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patcluding laterally extending bars, a supporting frame at eachvside of the main frame, laterally extending bars connected'with saidsupporting frames and slidingly engaging the'lateral bars ot' the mainframe, means for securing said bars together in adjusted position andtraction means carried by said supporting frames. K

'2. A tractor comprising a main frame, including laterally extendingchannel bars, a pair ot lower channel bars slidably eng-ag.- ing each ofthe first mentioned bars, supporting frames connected with the lowerars, traction means carried by said supporting frames and means forclamping the upper and lower bars together in adjusted position.

3. A tractor comprising a main frame, including laterally extendingchannel bars, a pair of lower channel bars slidingly engaging each ofthe first mentioned bars, supporting frames connected with the llowerbars, traction means carried by the supporting frames, means forclamping the upper and lower bars together in adjusted 'position andmeans -for forcing said bars apart when unclamped.y said meanscomprising al roller carryingwfframe located between the bars and asereni" bolt ior moving the frame vertically.

4. A tractor comprising a main frame, a frame on each side of the mainframe, supporting wheels on said side fra-mes, means for adjusting theside frames laterally in relation tothe main frame, a drive'ishaft.sleeves thereon formingextensions of the shaft. inea-ns for connectingeach sleeve to the supporting wheels on one of the side frames and meansfor driving the shaft.

Int testimony whereo'tI affix my signature.

FLOYD P. FRANKLIN.

